Tavalai
Back to species or Table of Contents physiology “Froggies” �� *frog-faced humanids *broad, squat, green-brown body, broad shoulders, rolling gait *warm skin, leathery, slightly webbed fingers *tough, strong, imposing, especially the Karasai Warriors *protruding flat heads (DL-3) *wide-set eyes with two lids: “Those wide-set, amphibious eyes swivelled far forward to focus on her (R-19) "Also scattered through the markets (on Tuki Station in Barabo Space) were random tavalai, with their broad shoulders and protruding, flat heads and wide-set eyes, and the occasional kaal, like thick walls of grey muscle lumbering through the crowd." (DL-3) *prefer a warm humid environment culture, character traits *Togiri language; Togiri words are long, with many syllables *“We live regularly past three hundred of your years” ® *treasure everything that is old *Lt Dale feels "an appreciation for whatever it was in tavalai psychological make-up that repressed panic and allowed them to make rational judgments" (KV-25) *they do what’s necessary Dale had once despised tavalai for their lack of panic reflex, thinking it made them no better than unthinking machines, unable to feel or fear. But now he saw Tooganam, unflinching amidst fire, smoke and shrapnel, refusing more than partial cover because it was necessary, and the tavalai were a people for whom the necessary was everything, irrespective of cost, profit or doubt. And it was like a revelation. (KV-31) *Organizers, good managers "Chah'nas discovered the tavalai were better at bureaucracy and what they regarded as "lower-level governance" than chah'nas were, and from then on, tavalai had been regarded as a separate caste within chah'nas society who specialized in precisely those lower level functions. It had grown to entail quite a bit of power."(R-13) *Poor leaders -- too wishy washy, no taste for final decisions *Generally kind, with a strong moral system, but indecisive, argumentative, and legalistic *"Damn he spoke good English, Erik thought. Tavalai were always so damn civilised” (DL) **but they get others, like the sard and the parren, to do their dirty work *stubborn. "Until their surrender, it was thought that the tavalai were the most stubborn species in the Spiral. Now everyone knew better."(R-2) *”It is easier to get milk from a stone than to get a tavalai to apologize,” Chis said tiredly...”By the end of the discussion we have a dozen opinions and a dozen reasons to do nothing.” (R-20) chah'nas and tavalai Chah'nas hate the tavalai, apparently *After the chah'nas turned on the parren and took control of the Spiral, they ruled for 8,000 years, giving the detail-oriented tavalai responsibility for management, and positions with some prestige, along with an honorary caste (tenth caste), with a temple on Merakis (R-20) *eventually the Froggies revolted their static caste position and won the leadership, announcing the First Free Age of the Spiral (R-13 and R-20) *that was about 8,000 years ago, but only recently the chah'nas melted hundreds of tavalai scientists, archaeologists, linguists, and historians with glee (R-19) Dobruta "I am Captain Pramodenium...We are the oldest unit in all tavalai military forces. The Dobruta were formed at the beginning of the First Free Age, to police the Spiral of AI technology -- what you call the hacksaws. We've been performing that task for more than eight thousand years." (DL-14) *Hunt down and destroy any vestiges of AI technology, drones, nests, existing machines *The Makimakala, a Dobruta warship, combat carrier Ibranakala Class *Captain Pram / Pramodenium *Commander Nalben / Nalbenaranda *Karasai warriors: Commander / Major Naki / “Djojana Naki” *cooperated with UFS Phoenix on several missions, including the destruction of Tartarus (DL) tavalai bureaucracy *Pondalganam legal institution ”there were about thirty-nine major legal institutions in tavalai space, and hundreds of minor ones. The Pondalganam were one of the oldest and largest —still only a third the size of the very biggest, but making up in pedigree what they lacked in scale.” (KV-11) *Tavalim -- heritage, archaeological endeavors, museums, etc. (R-19) *The Pelligavani - financial department on Stoya iii, in Doma Strana (KV-1) *Tavalai Fleet is a static department, with an unchanging charter and limitations, overseen by Tropagali Andarachi Mandarinava / The State Department *Although State Department had technical command over Fleet, they had very little command over the Tsubarata, who were run by the Pondalganam legal institution" (KV-32) *Tropagali Andarachi Mandarinava / The State Department (section below) State Department *Tropagali Andarachi Mandarinava / The State Department * "one of the largest tavalai government departments... an ancient beast of tavalai bureaucracy, formed directly after the fall of the Chah’nas Empire nearly eight thousand years ago. It ran all tavalai external affairs, and was held partly responsible by most humans for the belligerence that led to the Triumvirate War" (KV-1) *Tokigala was a tavalai foreign affairs and diplomacy vessel from the State Department *Jeli from State Department: “My name is Jelidanatagani. I am from the Department of Administrative Affairs of the State Department, as you call it. Human Wing.” (KV) Characters *Chis - "I am Chisdhorahmradaem, I am a linguist with the Narigalda Institute of Historical Studies, I... I was instructed to be here to give humans a tour of the facility.” (R-19) **He was rescued at Merakis, brought to med bay on Phoenix *Captain Pram / Pramodenium, on Makimakala, Dobruta warship (DL) *Commander Nalben / Nalbenaranda, on Makimakala *Naki / “Djojana Naki” — Karasai commander on Makimakala *Admiral Janikanarada / Admiral Janik, Fleet *Captain Delrodaprodium /Captain Del, Fleet *Captain Toladini / Captain Tol, Fleet *Captain Panditatama / Captain Pandi, Fleet *Captain Kaledramani of Tantotavarin - humans called him ‘Killer Kaled’ and Froggie Fleet didn’t much like him, for siding with State Dept (D-4) *“Tooganam. Retired Karasai Djara (sergeant) — helped Lt Dale on Gamesh (KV-15) *Jeli /Jelidanatagani, State Dept, older woman **”Captain hit a girl” tavalai allies *the barabo are tavalai allies, at least for the moment… *the sard **treacherous allies, and for a price *the kaal Category:Characters Category:Species